The dumbest thing the right is saying about Sebelius’s replacement
As dumb as it is predictable: Conservatives now blame Sylvia Burwell, not Ted Cruz, for the government shutdown
JOAN WALSH
President Obama may have had troubles with the Healthcare.gov rollout, but hes rolling out a replacement for departing Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius nicely. Appointing Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was confirmed last year to head the Office of Management and Budget 96-0, virtually insures hell get someone into Sebeliuss seat before midterm politics heat up.
That doesnt mean the right wont try to throw garbage at the centrist and well-respected Burwell.
On PJ Tatler today theyre calling her the person who shut down the veterans memorials, because as OMB chief, she signed the memo telling agencies to execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations when Sen. Ted Cruz and the GOP shut down the government last year.
Youll recall that Cruz and the right had the audacity to blame Obama and the Democrats for the shutdown, which backfired on them spectacularly. But not before
Cruz, Sarah Palin and a Confederate-flag-waving moron challenged the closure of the World War II veterans memorial with a protest that moved to the White House, where Larry Klayman told President Obama to the Quran down
and come out figuratively with your hands up. Good times.
So yeah, theyre going to try that whole thing again, but its not going to work. (An aside:
this NBC News story calls Burwell the woman who ordered the government shutdown, which at the time probably seemed like a feature-writers flourish to pull people into a dull story about the OMB director, but in hindsight didnt accurately describe the way the mess unfolded.) Sen. John McCain immediately tweeted Sylvia Burwell is an excellent choice to be the next #HHS Secretary. While righties are hoping that red state Democrats will turn on the woman who supposedly ordered the shutdown of veterans memorials, Sen. Joe Manchin praised Burwells appointment, too. (It probably helps that shes from West Virginia.)
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http://www.salon.com/2014/04/11/the_dumbest_thing_the_right_is_saying_about_sebelius%E2%80%99s_replacement/